Chickens love to scratch and forage, and they will come running for treats if they see you coming, but not all treats are good for them. When offering little titbits to your hens, it’s best to give them food that won’t cause any upset stomachs and will supplement their nutrition. You might wonder whether or not you can offer peas to your chickens and how much to give them.
Chickens can eat peas, provided they are not the bulk of their diet. Fresh, cooked, and sprouted peas are wonderful treats, both nutritious and good for providing interest by scratching. Do not feed your chickens sweet peas, and keep sweet pea vines out of reach as these are highly toxic.
Backyard chickens are great pets, with the added benefit of eggs, and watching them go about their daily scratching is something I love. Our chickens get standard chicken feed or pellets, but we also supplement their feed with different treats. These treats give extra vitamins and help keep them entertained, but are peas a suitable snack for your hens?
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Can You Feed Your Chickens Peas?
You can feed chickens peas, and they love these little snacks. Our small flock comes running up to get as many peas out of the bowl as possible, although we don’t give them peas daily. However, peas are not every chicken’s favorite snack.
My chickens love peas, clover, and watermelon, and hate cabbage, whereas I have heard from other chicken keepers that their flock loves cabbage and shows little interest in peas.
For optimum health, your chickens should get a standard feed based on whether they are layers or broilers. The suitable feed will ensure they get the correct number of proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals to support healthy growth and egg production.
Naturally, we want to supplement their food with some fun extra treats, which are great for getting extra vitamins from green vegetables and fruits.
Scattering treats or hanging them up helps keep your flock exercised and entertained. Watching my hens chase the peas rolling around the yard is also entertaining for me!
The general rule is to make treats like peas no more than 10% of your chickens’ diet.
Can Chickens Eat Dried Peas?
Peas are one of the few legumes chickens can eat, and they are often heat-dried and ground to add to commercial chicken feed. While peas are suitable, beans are not, and you should not feed your chickens with raw beans.
A study by FA Igbasan and W Guenter on laying hens fed with three different cultivars of dehulled and micronized peas showed that the ground peas had a small positive effect on their egg-laying. In contrast, another study on broiler hens showed that peas could improve weight gain.
If field peas make up a large portion of the diet, it can slow the growth performance of both layers and broilers, and soybean meal is preferable.
When feeding your chickens peas as a treat, however, you should not feed them dried peas. If you only have dried peas, soak them overnight and sprout them before giving them to your chickens.
If you include some split peas in their scatter, only use a little, and always ensure your chickens have access to plentiful water at all times.
Can Chickens Eat Peas Raw?
You can feed your chickens fresh, raw peas as they have a good balance of proteins and carbohydrates. Fresh peas also contain Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Iron, Potassium, and Calcium, making them very healthy snacks.
Never replace your chicken feed or pellets with peas, as they don’t have the right balance of nutrients for optimal health. Instead, use peas to help your chickens peck and play and as occasional treats.
One way to encourage chickens to scratch is to scatter peas through their straw to find. If the peas are in the pod, roughly chop the pods or hull the peas first.
Can Chickens Eat Frozen Peas?
Frozen peas make a fantastic chicken snack in hot weather. If the day is baking, scattering a handful of frozen peas can help your chickens cool down. The peas won’t stay frozen long, but chickens don’t usually leave snacks to waste either.
Some chicken owners prefer to use organic frozen peas to ensure that the peas don’t have any unwanted chemicals on them.
Can Chickens Eat Cooked Peas?
If you’ve still got leftover peas from last night’s dinner, don’t toss them away – give them to your chickens. They will happily plow through cooked peas, and though some nutrients will be lost in the cooking process, they will still get some necessary sustenance.
Our chickens love leftovers, and we rarely have to waste any food as it all goes out to the flock, peas included.
If you’re worried about the suitability of any leftover food, always check first, but cooked vegetables and peas are not a problem.
Can Young Chicks Eat Peas?
Young chicks are usually fed on a special chick feed designed to give them the optimal boost at the start of their life. Once chicks have reached 3-4 weeks old, you can begin slowly introducing new foods to them.
As with adult chickens, their treats should not exceed 10-20% of their diet, and dried peas should be sprouted first.
What Kinds Of Peas Are Suitable For Chickens?
Not all peas are suitable for your chickens. If they are suitable for human consumption, there should be no problem.
Therefore, you can give your chickens raw green peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas. You can give them any cooked peas, including split peas.
Chickens can also eat fresh peas, like cowpeas, suitable for forage and general animal consumption. Edamame is also acceptable; these are soybeans rather than peas.
You can feed your chickens garden peas raw or frozen.
The following types of peas are not suitable for chickens:
- Whole dried peas – instead, soak and sprout them first
- Sweet peas – these can be toxic to chickens, so avoid them. All parts of sweet pea plants are toxic to chickens, so do not plant them where chickens can access them.
Conclusion
Peas make for an excellent snack for your backyard flock, and most chickens will happily gobble peas as a treat. You can give them frozen peas in hot weather, and chickens will also eat cooked and sprouted peas. While animal feed-grade peas should also be acceptable, under no condition should you feed your chickens with sweet peas as these can cause paralysis and death.
